1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a testing apparatus for checking various properties such as durability, performances and the like of a self-propelled vehicle, especially of an automobile under a snowy atmosphere.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An artificial snowfall apparatus is already known. A conventional one produces an artificial snowfall under a substantially wind-free condition, and is employed in a snow-weathering test of a house. In such a conventional snowfall apparatus, a water-spraying nozzle is provided in an upper portion of the apparatus and sprays water into a mist which is frozen into ice while falling to produce an artificial snowfall. However, such a conventional apparatus is not one that lends itself to the snow-weathering test of the automobile which is a travelling article. In addition, in such a conventional apparatus, it is not possible to conduct the snow-weathering test of the automobile in its driving condition because of a limited narrow testing space inherent in the conventional apparatus, particularly as to snowstorm-weathering tests of predetermined portions of the automobile.
Further, when vehicles, buildings and like articles are subjected to such snow-weathering tests in conventional environmental testing apparatus, snow is carried by an atmosphere stream and is sucked into an air-conditioning unit, i.e., into a cooler, such that snow adheres to the unit, resulting in decreased cooling and air-feeding performance. This makes it difficult to produce a continuous, long-term, artificial snowfall in the apparatus. In order to achieve such a snowfall, it has been suggested to mount a stationary, air permeable screen, within an air-sucking opening of an air-conditioning unit which sucks air confined in the testing chamber, for the purpose of catching snow carried by the air in front of the air-conditioning unit. In this suggested structure, in order to prevent such screen from being clogged with the snow, there has been provided a snow-trapping equipment produced by the applicant of the present invention, which equipment is provided with a rotary brush brought into contact with a surface of the screen adapted for scraping the snow adhered thereto. However, in this snow-trapping equipment, there is a problem in that the thus scraped snow is again carried by the atmospheric stream or deposited on a foor of the testing chamber.